Validation of quasi-linear turbulent transport models against plasmas with dominant electron heating for the prediction of ITER PFPO-1 plasmas

Kinetic profile predictions of ITER PFPO-1 plasmas require high accuracy in the central electron temperatures to be applied to the calculation of third harmonic electron cyclotron absorption. Correctly predicting the transition from L-mode to H-mode further requires precise estimates of the ion heat flux in the periphery of the plasma. Recent versions of the quasi-linear transport models TGLF and QuaLiKiz were tested against an extensive set of experimental results from ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) and JET-ILW, where the focus was put on AUG plasmas heated by ECRH. Spectra obtained from TGLF are compared to a set of linear gyrokinetic simulations performed with GKW. Electron and ion temperature profiles obtained with TGLF-SAT1geo show good agreement with the experimental profiles, but there is a slight tendency to underpredict central T (e) and T (i) at high ratios T (e)/T (i). QuaLiKiz yields reasonable results for T (e) and T (i) profiles in plasmas where the ion temperature gradient mode is dominant, but predicts a significantly too weak transport in the presence of dominant trapped electron modes in conditions of strong central electron heating.

Automated summary

The study tested the quasi-linear transport models TGLF and QuaLiKiz against experimental results, finding good agreement between profiles obtained from TGLF-SAT1geo and experimental profiles for electron and ion temperatures. However, there is a slight tendency for the model to underpredict central temperatures at high electron/ion temperature ratios.